Word of Mouth

3:17 pm

Mon July 8, 2013

Frozen In Time: 7 Celebrities Who Are Taking Steps to Live Forever

When we spoke with Josh Dean, author of the long form article, “Inside the Immortality Business,” he noted that you have to have both a lot of money and a pretty large ego to seriously consider cryonics as a substitute for any end of life plans. Since it is only legal to freeze someone after they have been declared medically deceased, there are some pretty tricky logistics involved in being cryogenically frozen. Aside from having your estate settled and making sure there is a team waiting at your death bed to put you on ice as soon as possible, people who choose to be frozen also have to make sure their accounts have been paid in full – or risk having their bodies sit around until the bank transfers go through. Despite all this, there are still plenty of people who are willing to bet hundreds of thousands of dollars that someday science will have progressed far enough to bring them back from the dead. Among this eccentric bunch are some well known celebrities.

Who might our descendants be lucky enough to see in tabloids in the far distant future? Here are 7 of the celebrities who have expressed an interest in being cryogenically frozen after their heart stops beating.

Seth MacFarlane: Perhaps he wants to make sure his Family Guy legacy is carried on in a dignified way, because the show runner and comedian sat down and discussed his plans to be cryogenically frozen with the next person on this list, Larry King.

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Larry King: He says he has considered his options and has decided the possibility of immortality is much more appealing than hoping for a fulfilling after life. Since his best bet for living forever sits in the still shaky science of cryonics, the former late night host plans to be preserved cryogenically after he dies.

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Simon Cowell: Future pop star hopefuls may once again get the chance to cower under the famous glare of the long time talent judge. Though some people seem to think Cowell already has ice running through his veins, he has mentioned in interviews that he plans to pay the high price to have his body frozen when he dies.

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Paris Hilton: Though it seems like she is less concerned with the science behind being perfectly preserved, this heiress has expressed interest in being frozen after her death.

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Britney Spears: The pop singer may already be planning her next comeback, after a much longer, and colder, hiatus. Though it is unclear whether the star is really committed to going into deep freeze, it does seem like the logical next step for someone who has a record of successful comebacks and reinventions.

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Muhammad Ali: The former boxing champ is known to have explored the possibility of a much longer future. He began looking into cryonics in the 1980s, so we can assume that by now he has figured out all the details surrounding the procedure – a model patient for the growing cryonics industry.

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Ted Williams: The only one on this list to already be cryogenically frozen, the baseball star’s head is waiting for the day when he will be able to receive a body transplant and be revived – and perhaps get another shot at baseball glory.